Commercial air carriers are required to obtain an air carrier certification and to conduct commercial operations in conformity with specified regulations. For example, within the United States, scheduled commercial air service is governed by regulations as described in detail in Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations Chapter 1, Part 121 (“Part 121”). In general terms, Part 121 regulates the conduct of flight operations, mandates aircraft equipment and performance requirements, provides crew qualification and training requirements, and outlines required maintenance operations for the certificated air carrier. Air carrier operations in other jurisdictions may be similarly regulated, as those skilled in the art will readily recognize.
Air carriers typically staff and maintain dispatch centers to control selected operational details related to the air carrier's operations. For example, a dispatch center typically performs various pre-flight planning tasks required for a scheduled flight, monitors the progress of the scheduled flight, and may issue other information that may affect the safety of the flight. Since the dispatch centers must provide the foregoing services throughout an entire route structure used by the air carrier, a plurality of dispatch centers are typically maintained by the carrier, and are generally positioned at various locations in the route structure.
The dispatch centers are manned by one or more aircraft flight dispatchers that share joint responsibility with the pilot-in-command (PIC) of a scheduled flight for the safe and efficient operation of the aircraft. Accordingly, the aircraft flight dispatcher is typically responsible for pre-flight tasks pertaining to the scheduled flight, including analyzing and evaluating meteorological information pertaining to the flight to determine if potential hazards to flight exist. The flight dispatcher also typically selects an appropriate flight route and altitude for the flight, and performs selected flight calculations such as constructing a flight plan that includes a projected fuel-burn, compiles a load plan for the aircraft, performs weight and balance calculations, and also obtains other informational components that may be required for the safe completion of the flight. Based upon the foregoing, a dispatch release document is generated that is approved and signed by the dispatcher. The flight dispatcher also typically generates a flight plan that is filed with the appropriate air traffic control facility. Once the scheduled flight departs, the flight dispatcher may actively monitor the progress of the flight, and assist the flight crew as required.
Since the aircraft flight dispatcher works with the PIC of the scheduled flight to accomplish the foregoing tasks, the flight dispatcher must be properly trained, and in the United States, must obtain a certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to indicate that the certificated person understands the pertinent FAA regulations, radio communication procedures and protocols, weather analysis, aircraft performance characteristics, air traffic control procedures and navigational facilities, as well as other specialized knowledge. After a flight dispatcher has acquired the necessary FAA certification, the knowledge and skills of the flight dispatcher are periodically tested to ensure that a safe level of performance may be expected from the flight dispatcher.
Since each dispatch center requires a staff of trained dispatchers, the cost of maintaining flight dispatch centers is considerable. Additional costs are incurred in supporting the physical space requirements and infrastructure required for the dispatch centers. Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods that permit an air carrier to significantly reduce the costs associated with aircraft dispatch requirements.